


Hera and the Wolf

by moraithedaughter



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Force Visions, Spoilers, The Force
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:13:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27074041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moraithedaughter/pseuds/moraithedaughter
Summary: "The sky was not its usual blue- the deep purples and pinks mixed in above her made everything about this place feel just too surreal. Hera may not have been a Force-wielder, but you didn't need to be a Jedi to feel its presence here, whereverherewas."Hera has a vision.Major spoilers for the final season; proceed with caution if you haven’t finished it.
Relationships: Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	Hera and the Wolf

**Author's Note:**

> _“I don’t know man, what if Hera had a vision like Ezra’s and got to pet a Loth-wolf?”  
>  – me, still Very Sad about a children's cartoon_  
> ...  
> ...  
> ... _Rebels_ is very good.
> 
> \---

\---

_"KANAN-!"_

Hera leapt from the ship after him but stopped short before she could land on the fuel drum they had been standing on. He held her there, his metaphysical grip on her solid. She could feel as she hovered that he was using everything in him to keep the fire from getting too close. 

_Something isn’t right. What is he doing?_ Hera thought as he turned his head her direction.  
All it took one was look from him, and she understood.  
_Kanan, don’t you dare-_  
The fear set in, then, growing stronger within her as each moment passed.  
Between staying suspended in the air, the adrenaline coursing through her, the heat from the fire- it was all so much to process. But amidst all the chaos, as she watched him do so much to protect their family, she saw the look in his eyes…

 _His eyes…_  
Maybe it was everything around her going to her head, but she swore Kanan's eyes _changed_ \- that somehow, his eyes were once again the same brilliant blue they were before he lost his sight.

 _"I wish... I could see you,"_ his words from a few days before rang in her head.  
She wanted to tell him then- tried to, even.  
_“You could always see me,"_ her response, saying everything except what she meant.  
What she'd been trying to, wanting to tell him for so long.  
What she was finally able to say, only too late: _I love you._

It all happened so fast that, before she knew where she was, she was back on the ship, safe in Ezra’s grip. The two could only look on as Kanan Jarrus, Jedi Knight, tossed the ship safely out of range, letting the explosion consume him along with every fuel drum in the refinery. 

She liked to think that he got his wish, in the end.

*** *** *** *** ***

The weight of her grief found her sitting against the wall of the cave.

_Why did I wait so long to tell him?  
I thought we had time - we were supposed to have more time…  
He was wary of the Rebellion from the beginning… if I had just listened to him… _

The flurry of emotions she was still reeling from began to catch up to her as she sat, dizzying her the more she let herself think. It began to feel like time was gradually slowing as each moment passed; she hadn't realized that she must have fallen asleep until she woke with a start with no idea where she was. 

She was on an open plain, not unlike the ones found outside Lothal’s Capital City. But something in her gave her the sense that this wasn’t Lothal, not really anyway. The sky was not its usual blue- the deep purples and pinks mixed in above her made everything about this place feel just too surreal. Hera may not have been a Force-wielder, but you didn't need to be a Jedi to feel its presence here, wherever _here_ was.  
  
She was still trying to figure out her surroundings when she sensed that something was behind her, its breath warm on her neck. She turned to find a giant, white Loth-wolf, silently blinking as it sat in front of her. Everything in her told her she should be terrified, but she instead felt a strange sense of familiar comfort in the wolf’s imposing presence. Maybe it was all still too fresh, but she even got the sense that Kanan was somehow here with her in this place. _Not literally, of course_ , she thought to herself; but whatever this was, their connection was too strong for her to believe that he wasn’t here somehow.  
  
Before she realized what she was doing, she slowly brought her hand closer to the creature, stopping before she got too close to its nose. She held it there a moment, gauging the wolf’s reaction just as much as it was gauging hers.  
  
_What am I doing? Why am I not running?_ Hera thought, the wolf sitting almost statue still, as she felt her hand move ever so slightly closer.  
Then, before she realized how close she was, her hand had found the creature’s snout. After what felt like an eternity, the wolf dipped its head before lifting it again, letting itself be pet without Hera having to move her hand. Another moment passes, and the wolf repeats the motion, looking in Hera’s eyes as it does.  
  
Any tension she was holding immediately left her as she understood what the creature was trying to do. She brought her other hand under the wolf’s chin, letting it rest there as she continued to pet its snout. The wolf lowered into a bow again, slightly deeper this time as Hera moved her hand to reach the top of its head. Another moment passes, and the wolf shifts somewhat suddenly so that where it was once sitting, it’s now laying down, regal as ever. Hera stops as it does this and, as the wolf continues to stare at her, it was as if the creature was telling her that it was okay to join him.

She began to bring herself to the wolf’s level, as close as she could for the size difference between them. As she got to her knees the wolf nuzzled his head against her arm; she reciprocated by petting his snout before taking his head more fully in her hands, bringing his forehead to hers.  
  
Before too long Hera found herself half-curled up against the wolf’s side, its slow and steady breathing keeping her calm as she told him everything that was on her heart. How lost she felt now that Kanan was gone; how she couldn’t help but feel somewhat responsible for his death; how even though she finally told him how she truly felt about him, she hadn’t told him _everything_ ; that she’d only known for a couple of weeks, but hadn’t been able to tell him yet; her fear as she realized was going to have to do this - or anything else, for that matter - without him. She couldn’t be sure that the wolf even understood what she was saying, but he sat there still, listening and letting her talk and cry and feel and grieve and –

She hadn’t realized that she must have fallen asleep until she woke with a start, back in the cave. Chopper was shaking her awake, buzzing and beeping away in his concerned tone.  
“Chopper? Chop, what –“  
He flailed his arms, whirring with relief that she was okay.  
“I think- I think I saw – I don’t know,” She concluded, still trying to wrap her head around what just happened.  
The droid whirred again, now pointing to the kalikori that had fallen to her side. _Of course_ , Hera thought as she picked it back up, holding it to her tight.  
“I think that’s a great idea, Chopper,”  
She pat the top of the droid softly as she took one more steadying breath, stood up, and got to work.


End file.
